The Age of Steel & Aliens
by AMALGAMATIN
Summary: The Doctor simply wishes to sight-see London with some friends. But when he is accidentally thrust into a conflict between the warring Daleks and Cybermen, he must live up to his reputation as a pacifist and stop the war, or die trying.
1. Chapter 1

A robotic voice hissed, its voice echoing throughout the gigantic, metallic chamber as it said, _Exterminate. Exterminate. Extermin-_

"No, no, no. No, you are definitely not exterminating anyone anymore, can you just get with the program already?"

The Dalek paused, seemingly at a lack for words, at which the young man took the opportunity to speak. "There. All better. Now…."

Encircling the sentient machine with the eye of a scientist examining a dissected animal, the man suddenly stepped uncomfortably close to the Dalek, holding his eye up to an eyestalk protruding from its chassis. "How did you survive?"

The Dalek said nothing at first.

Then, _I will exterminate you_.

The man sighed, shaking his head in disapproval. "That's not an option for you, and frankly, you couldn't even exterminate a fly right now. I'm going to ask again, and this time, you must answer truthfully and in full, about how you survived the Time War between your race and my own."

The Dalek's gun mount raised the energy weapon until it was pointing at the young man, as if to shoot.

The man simply walked away a short distance, laughing. When he finally calmed down, he approached it once again with a frightening calm. "Your weapon doesn't work. You can't kill, you can't exterminate, you can't **be** a Dalek. Daleks kill, destroy the world of its filth, isn't that right? You cannot destroy anything, so in my eyes….you are not a Dalek at all."

The Dalek was silent. It appeared to be thinking. Then it hurled itself at the young man, straining against the chains holding it to the TARDIS. For a few seconds it tried to body slam the man, then, calming down, it stopped and was quiet.

All the while, the man just looked at the Dalek.

"We're here!" A blonde-haired young girl, about twenty years old or so, called to the young man from behind a dashboard with blinking lights and various buttons of different shapes and sizes. "Just what the doctor ordered, London in 1969, an age of excitement and wonder! Isn't that what you always say?" There was a twinkle in her eye.

The young man turned away from the Dalek and smiled at the girl. "Well Rose, real doctors would prescribe time away from stress-inducing excitement, but we were never one to shy away from danger! Come on!"

Rose stood up and ran to the door, about to open it until she remembered. "Wait…what about the Dalek? Are we just going to leave it here?"

The man answered, "Well, not going to be long. And he shouldn't be able to escape either, since he can't use that laser of his or his other nasty tools. Think of this as a little pit stop, a short rest before we get to the meat of our journey: the universe's worst prison." His face darkened as he said, "That is what this creature deserves." A pause. "On a happier note, we'll finally be able to see the abolition of the Ulster Special Constabulary, which was an interesting event in the history of Britain."

Rose smiled uncertainly. "Let's go!"

"Wait! I'm not decent yet!" The young man dug through his pockets, took out spectacles, unfolded them, and placed them on his head. He patted his suit, then gave a quick little nod of acceptance. He walked toward the TARDIS door and opened it. He turned back to Rose and said, "Now I am."

With that, the Tenth Doctor offered his arm to Rose, who took it, as they walked out.

* * *

What they saw when the door opened and they stepped out was not the London they knew and loved.

"Doctor, are you sure this is right? Are we supposed to be on this desolated wasteland on some random planet?"

The Doctor calmly spoke. "This is Earth. And we are exactly where we wanted to go. As for what time or dimension….even I do not know."

Smoke and grime was everywhere, coating the destroyed, crumbling buildings, on the ground, in the air. They wandered about, walking around the TARDIS cautiously to try and see the source of the chaos, but ran right into a strange pair.

One was an unnatural-looking man who wore a long coat with sunglasses and a tie.

That in itself was not weird, but his reliance on a cane when he looked about thirty was odd. His companion was a woman, about twenty years old, with blonde hair that shone like a beacon. Both immediately lowered into fighting stances at the sight of the Doctor and Rose. They looked at the TARDIS, then the Doctor and Rose, then back to the TARDIS, and shock and anger dawned on their faces as they ran forward. The girl threw a punch at Rose, who received it with her face. She fell backwards on the mud.

The girl started to yell about stealing.

The man tried the same with the Doctor and didn't have as much luck. The Doctor blocked the arm with his own and punched the man with his other. The man twisted out of the way, looking wary, relaxed, then lunged at the Doctor, cane in hand. The Doctor, calling upon his knowledge of taekwondo, executed a single knife-hand block, successfully protecting himself from the unknown man's cane. The man looked at him strangely, as if recognizing something. However, he did not have time to ponder what was happening. Suddenly, a strange noise was heard, followed by a loud bang, as rubble and dust began to billow out from behind them. The Doctor and Rose looked back in surprise only to see a flying object zoom by them, knocking them to the ground with its passage. The Doctor, neck straining, caught a glimpse of the Dalek they had captured coming to a stop with a energy weapon pointed at him, and another, identical Dalek, hovering by its fellow mutant, with a freshly charged death ray in Rose's face. The man and the girl stood by quietly. The man finally said, "Kill whomever you wish. Bring them to me if they are useful: if they have knowledge, are gifted, strong-willed. I always need new troops." Then the man and his acquaintance walked away.

The Doctor smiled grimly. "So that's how it is, eh? And what did he mean by new troops?"

_I am sorry, Doctor, _the Dalek nearest him beeped after the other man and girl left. _I cannot reveal to you that information. And I lied. I can still exterminate. I will start with you. _

Pointing its energy weapon at the Doctor, it attempted to fire.

Nothing happened.

It asked itself absentmindedly, _Why is it not working?_ Experimenting, the Dalek placed its plunger-like appendage on the ground.

A sucking sound commenced. The Dalek appeared satisfied, then pointed the energy weapon at the Doctor again. Only a slight buzz was heard.

The other Dalek did not remark upon its fellow Dalek's actions.

Finally, the Dalek seemed to give up and was about to speak again when a figure flew out from the smoke, punched through the Dalek, and tore the dome off its metallic body. The Cyberman turned away from the defeated alien and, emboldened by its victory, ran towards the other Dalek with an intent to kill.

A lazer zipped out of the darkness into and through the Cyberman when it was a foot away from its perceived enemy. A clean hole through the Cyberman's breastplate marked the beam's path. The Cyberman crumpled to its knees, then fell to the ground, face-down.

A Dalek rolled forward, coming to a stop next to its bretheren. _You must come with us. Though I have heard about your atrocious acts concerning our race, the master would be angry if he were deprived of a new batch of soldiers, a Time Lord no less. He does like your kind, Doctor._

"Why?" The Doctor asked.

If he could keep the Dalek talking, he could have more time to think up a solution to distract them so he could escape with Rose. He still had the Sonic Screwdriver in his pocket, so perhaps he could cook up a plan with that in mind…

_You see, he is a Time Lord as well, _The Dalek beeped, with a glimmer of laughter hidden behind its stoic demeanor.

Nothing else the Dalek could have said would have startled the Doctor as much as that statement.

* * *

The Doctor forgot that the Dalek was an enemy for a moment from shock and spoke without venom in his voice. "What do you mean, Time Lord? The only one left is myself. There are no others of my race. None. Zip."

_You also believed that we Daleks were in the same predicament as you. Yet my race survives. _It waited impatiently for the Doctor to concede.

"But…that's impossible. I couldn't sense him. All Time Lords in close proximity share a telepathic connection. So he can't be a Time Lord. Aristotelian logic works wonders, you know."

_I know not what you are speaking of. He is a Time Lord. I have heard his two hearts beating. I have seen his skills and abilities. There is no other alien he could possibly be. My master is a Time Lord._


	2. The Great Escape

"Today, we are here to discuss matters pertaining to the ongoing war between the race I am leader of: the Cybermen, and the race you are leader of, Davros: the Daleks. Please keep in mind that this is a peaceful matter, and no fighting between our two races will be tolerated."

Davros nodded in agreement from across the table.

"Now, onto the business at hand," the Detective said. "The Daleks have the right to claim the two new prisoners, as a result of our agreement: now…what are you planning to do with them? Or have you already dealt with them? I seem to remember a Dalek pointing an energy weapon at the male prisoner. Odd, but I guess you didn't wish for him to speak to me.

"Anyway, as you know, it is required that you either set them free or kill them. It was not lawful of you to find a supplier of extra troops, ones that were especially created for this conflict, but we will overlook it if you kill them or transport them elsewhere. Please inform the council gathered here today of your decision."

_Detective, we arrived at a conclusion. They should be imprisoned, then killed. They are to be exterminated._

The Detective nodded, causing his sunglasses to bob up, then down. He gripped his cane tightly. "As of tomorrow morning, this treaty will be null and void. The war begins…anew." He sighed, as if pained, then stood. "Come, Cybermen. We have much to prepare."

* * *

The Doctor sat, disgruntled.

He had been sitting on the cold, hard floor for ages, chained to a ceramic wall, which made a very bad surface for leaning against, and he could not stand being uncomfortable for another second.

Without looking at them, he called to the Daleks, "Can we go now?"

Rose rustled her chains, clinking them against one another. "Now would be a good time, Daleks. When the Doctor gets mad…he becomes very unreasonable. When he figures out how to get out of this prison cell, he will come at you with a vengeance. I'm not sure even I could handle him."

The Daleks allowed, _We have heard the stories. However, the Doctor has always escaped from aliens with inferior intellect. We, the Daleks, have a superior one. He will never escape._

* * *

**_FLASHBACK_**

The Detective stepped out of his TARDIS right in the middle of its transformation. Not stopping to see the chameleon circuit work its science, the Detective immediately walked away, leaving his blonde friend trailing behind. She asked him shyly, "Detective?"

"What?"

"Where are we going? I thought we were going to disable the other TARDIS."

The Detective shook his head at her ignorance.

"Oh. That's what we're doing, isn't it?"

"Yes. Yes it is."

"Well, let's get on with it, then. No need to look at me like I am not the sharpest knife on the drawer. The thing is, you are so smart, you forget that I'm human."

The Detective tried to crack a smile in an act of sheepishness. "I'm sorry."

"How are we going to- "

"We are going to the London of the Doctor," the Detective answered, "and locate the house of a certain Jackie Tyler. The radar in the TARDIS has confirmed an energy source in this direction, so we should find the other time machine. It will look like a police box."

They walked for a while, past buildings that were whole and new, over ground that wasn't covered in the slimy slag they were used to in their own timeline. The girl kept shaking her head in amazement.

The Detective mumbled.

The girl leaned forward, asking, "What?"

Without looking back, he explained, "We should have found it already. We have just passed the house of Ms. Tyler…"

"What about that?" The girl said, pointing.

"Hmm?" The Detective glanced down the alleyway that his friend was pointing at, seeing garbage bags bursting with trash, cans and beer bottles littering the floor, graffiti on the walls, and a conspicuous police box. "Brilliant." The Detective smiled.

Standing by the TARDIS, the Detective grasped the door handle. It glowed at his touch. He pulled, and it swung open.

The girl gasped. "How did you do that? I thought this was the Doctor's."

The Detective only walked inside. Motioning to the girl to make no more sounds, he crouched low and crept forward. The Dalek was chained to a railing inside the Doctor's TARDIS with multiple chains and padlocks, all glistening new, with its back to them. It made no move to free itself.

The Detective slipped his Psionic Screwdriver out of his coat pocket, pointed it at the Dalek, and pressed the button, enveloping a tiny inch of the metallic alien in a blue light. _Should put this Dalek out of commission long enough for me to fix it._

"What'd you doing?"

The Detective did not respond. He knelt by the Dalek and opened it up. _A complex double circuit board with a spacedrive, eh? This might take long. Alright. So I need its energy weapon to work. According to the Daleks who witnessed the Doctor's arrival, this Dalek's death ray did not work, which resulted in it being killed and in the Doctor being brought to the prison instead of being killed immediately…_

The Detective went slowly, carefully aiming the Psionic Screwdriver at minutely different circuits, reprograming the Dalek to focus on murdering the Doctor right away. For some reason, the Dalek hadn't tried to kill the Doctor on the TARDIS, it had attempted to when they landed. The Detective wished to change that. At last, his work was done. The Dalek was beginning to activate, so the girl and the Detective left. They jogged up to their own TARDIS and traveled forward in time again.

* * *

**_FLASHFORWARD_**

The Detective stepped out of his TARDIS right in the middle of its transformation. Stopping to wait for his friend, he said to her, "Once the meeting discussing the treaty starts, our behavior must be identical to our behavior before we went back in time. This is akin to a controlled experiment – all the factors are the same except one, which allows us to reach a conclusion over what happened and whether we succeeded. Remember, okay?"

She nodded in agreement. They walked into the building.

"Today, we are here to discuss matters pertaining to the ongoing war between the race I am leader of: the Cybermen, and the race you are leader of, Davros: the Daleks. Please keep in mind that this is a peaceful matter, and no fighting between our two races will be tolerated."

Davros nodded in agreement from across the table.

"Now, onto the business at hand," the Detective said. "The Daleks have the right to claim the two new prisoners, as a result of our agreement: now…what are you planning to do with them? Or have you already dealt with them? I seem to remember a Dalek pointing an energy weapon at the male prisoner. Odd, but I guess you didn't wish for him to speak to me.

"Anyway, as you know, it is required that you either set them free or kill them. It was not lawful of you to find a supplier of extra troops, ones that were especially created for this conflict, but we will overlook it if you kill them or transport them elsewhere. Please inform the council gathered here today of your decision."

_Detective, we arrived at a conclusion. They should be imprisoned, then killed. They are to be exterminated._

The Detective nodded, causing his sunglasses to bob up, then down. He gripped his cane tightly. His face was sweating. _What happened?_ The Detective thought. Remembering himself, he continued, "As of tomorrow morning, this treaty will be null and void. The war begins…anew." He sighed, as if pained, then stood. "Come, Cybermen. We have much to prepare." The Detective stood up, and all around the table, the Cybermen mimicked his motion. The Detective walked outside to his ship, the TARDIS, got inside, relayed the planned destination, and flicked a couple of switches. The TARDIS powered up, then was off.

"What happened?" the girl yelled at the Detective anxiously. "Why didn't the peace talks change? We all did the exact same things, so does that mean the Doctor is still alive?"

The Detective smiled grimly. "It means that this just got more interesting."

* * *

The Doctor was bored. Painstakingly, realistically, downtroddenly, bored. There were few words that could describe the acute agony the Time Lord faced at having to spend most of his time in a cell when he could be flying across the galaxy through time and space – or, better yet, finding out exactly what was going on. There seemed to be some sort of conflict going on between the Daleks and Cybermen, but as to why it was happening and what the other Time Lord had to do with it, he had no idea.

A distant clang sounded.

The Daleks all swarmed to the only door in the prison compound, all except one.

"So," the Doctor said, "Are you my bodyguard or something?"

The Dalek said nothing. It turned its back on the Doctor.

"Then that's too bad."

Quick as a flash, the Doctor pointed his Sonic Screwdriver at the Dalek, programmed it to open the door, and then deactivated the Dalek once the prison cell door was ajar. He smiled at Rose, a huge grin that covered half of his face. "Time to go!"


End file.
